42% of non-voters would be more likely to vote if they could do so online

Published:09:24Wednesday 07 June 2017

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42% of UK adults who are not planning to vote in tomorrow’s General Election would be more likely to cast their ballot if they could do so online, new research by Ofcom-accredited broadband advice site Cable.co.uk has revealed.

Meanwhile, exactly half (50%) of those who were still deciding whether or not to vote said there would be a better chance of them doing so if they could go online to do it.

Approaching half (47%) of the all 1,746 UK adults who took part in the research, regardless of their intentions for voting in-person in this General Election, said being able to vote online would increase their voting likelihood.

Almost a quarter (24%) of those who were certain they would not be voting tomorrow said that, if they had to vote, they would vote Labour. 16% would vote for the Conservatives, 14% for UKIP, 6% for the Liberal Democrats and 6% for the Green Party.

Respondents aged 55 and over were the most likely to be planning to vote tomorrow, with 88% confirming they would be heading to a polling station; they were followed by 85% of 45 to 54 year-olds. The youngest voters, those aged 18 to 24, were the next most dedicated, with 79% confirming that they intended to turn up and vote.

Perhaps surprisingly, the introduction of online voting would make the least impact on 18 to 24 year-olds, with only 31% of all respondents in this age group saying it would make them more likely to vote.

Those aged 35 to 44 were the most inclined to vote online: 64% of respondents in this age group said it would increase the probability of them taking part.

Londoners were the most enthusiastic about online voting, with 68% saying they would be more likely to vote via the Internet.

There is an on-going debate about the security implications of enabling UK citizens to vote online, although it is already an option for people in other parts of the world.

Commenting on the results, Dan Howdle, consumer telecoms analyst at Ofcom-accredited broadband advice site Cable.co.uk, says: “It seems that if voting were made easier, more of us would do it. Makes sense, but it’s nevertheless somewhat shocking that so many with no plans to vote would do so if it saved them a short trip to the nearest polling station.

“Online voting is almost certainly the future. The key question is whether such a system can be adopted in a way that is beyond the potential interference from hackers.”